Saturday, February 13, 2010

On Friday Feb. 12, 2010, a small group of people braved the rain toremember the Olympia Pizza Time Strike of 2005. Pizza strike supportersheld a banner at 4th and Jefferson streets demanding a "Living Wage,Health Care, Retirement, Paid Vacation, Sick Days… For All." People whodrove and walked by the banner generally agreed with it, while one guysaid "go to Canada!" Participants noted that working conditions haven'timproved since the strike and lock-out happened five years ago. One pizzaworker who went on strike lamented that the current Pizza Time workers andmost of the workers in Olympia and elsewhere don't have any of thebenefits listed on the banner, and can still be fired without cause.

On Feb. 12, 2005 all the Pizza Time workers in Olympia walked off the jobafter presenting a list of demands to the new owner to improve workingconditions and reinstate two wrongly fired co-workers. When the ownerfailed to meet these demands the workers created a daily protest at 4thand Jefferson streets in downtown Olympia. With community support, OlympiaPizza Time closed down after eight days of picketing.

In Aug of 2005, former repo-man Heath Flores bought the Olympia Pizza Timefranchise and locked out the striking workers. Heath used variousintimidation tactics including suing the workers in federal court, whileplaying the victim in the situation to bust the strike. Heath bought offthe replacement workers with a futon and air conditioner to keep themloyal and working. Heath even fake cried during one meeting with thestriking workers. By this time most of the striking pizza workers hadother jobs but wanted to establish a grassroots union that could improveworking conditions at Pizza Time and elsewhere in Olympia. The Pizza Timestrikers remain locked out five years later.

The effort to create a local grassroots union was attacked from all anglesand nipped in the bud here in Olympia. Business owners and other laborunions in particular didn't like the idea. The Olympia Workers Association(OWA) lasted about two years before becoming the Olympia Workers Resource(http://olympiaworkers.net).

Such a union, if active, could drastically alter power relations in town.Business owners would have to deal with their workers as an organized bodythat could shut down their business at any time instead of people that canbe replaced individually and fired without cause. The threat of workersgetting together and taking action together is that they will startdemanding health care and retirement benefits, sick days and safe workingconditions, paid vacation and a living wage. Workers will start to demandthat they have a say in how the business is run. The dictatorship at workwould be broken if such a union existed.

Right now is as good of time as ever to get organized with the people youwork with. Form a union where decisions are made directly by workers andany worker can join. Then stand up for each other. Working conditionswon't get better until you do.